15 Pakistani survivors of fatal Morocco boat tragedy return home: FIA

GUJRANWALA: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday confirmed that 15 Pakistani nationals who survived a recent boat capsizing incident near the Dakhla port of Morocco have returned home safely.

The agency also revealed that human smugglers who sent Pakistanis to Spain through the North African country have also been identified and that raids are being conducted to arrest them.

An FIA spokesperson revealed that eight of these nationals returned home on Saturday morning after seven Pakistanis who had already returned home last night.

The ill-fated boat departed from Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants on board. Moroccan authorities reported that 66 of the passengers were Pakistani nationals and noted that it had rescued 36 people after the accident.

At least 50 people were killed in the incident.

The loss of life of Pakistanis in recent boat capsizing incidents while attempting to go abroad has prompted strong reaction from the government with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directing stern action against human smugglers and the officials who are involved in facilitating them.

Former FIA director general (DG) Ahmed Ishaque Jehangir's removed 35 officials for facilitating the human smuggling mafia in illegal migration and failing to uphold their duties earlier this month.

Sources said that Jehangir's removal — in the wake of cases of illegal migration and migrant boat tragedies which have become alarmingly frequent — was approved by PM Shehbaz, reportedly for the slow pace of investigations in the boat capsizing incidents and large-scale illegal migration.

Meanwhile, the eight passengers — aged 21 years to 41 years — arrived at Islamabad airport earlier today via Qatar Airways flight QR614 and are currently being questioned by officials, he noted.

The survivors of the ill-fated boat include Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Adeel, Irfan Ahmed, Arsalan Shamil, Ghulam Mustafa, Badram Muhiuddin, Mujahid Ali, and Tasbeeh Ahmed Shamil, who returned home today.

Two passengers are from Sheikhupura, two from Sialkot, two from Mandi Bahauddin, and one each from Gujarat and Jhelum, according to the spokesperson.

Among the seven Pakistanis who returned last night, three hail from Gujarat and one each from Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot.

"These passengers tried to illegally go to Spain via Dubai, Senegal after settling deals worth of hundreds of thousands of rupees with agents," the FIA spokesperson said.

"The agents sent the citizens to Dubai, Ethiopia and later to Senegal on visit visas. An attempt was also made to send them to Spain by sea from Senegal."

The spokesperson disclosed that several gangs, that were involved in sending illegal migrants to Spain, have been exposed after the passengers were identified.

According to the FIA, the passengers were also subjected to torture by the agents and information about them and their facilitators is being taken from the passengers.

The initial investigation revealed that the agents belong to different areas of Punjab.

The FIA spokesperson also revealed some of the agents' names. These inlcude an agent named Usman, human smugglers named Ali Raza, Fadi Gujjar, and Usman who lives in Lahore.

The probe agency also warned citizens to "always contact the embassy of the relevant country" before travelling to that country.

"Do not hand over your personal documents to an unrelated person," warned the spokesperson.